Set It Off

Starring: Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise, John C. McGinley, Blair Underwood, Charles Robinson, Dr. Dre
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Four women (Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise) resort to robbing banks when they see no other path forward in life.

Review:

Tim: F. Gary Gray followed his impressive feature film directorial debut, Friday with Set It Off. This is a more ambitious film, but one that strained the limits of his experience. I think this is a decent movie with some definite strengths, but it represents a step back for the director. It certainly has more than a few redeeming qualities, but it feels like Gray didn't quite have the experience to pull it all together into a consistently entertaining film.

The film's big strength is that it puts a unique spin on the bank robbery film. The criminals in this case are four black women who society has beat down- through systemic racism, through an economy that marginalizes them, through police brutality and violence. Robbing banks is never the answer, but the characters here have the deck stacked against them. It's this social commentary that separates the film. That was truly powerful and shined a light on minorities whom the entire system has taken advantage of and purposely kept down. I loved that part of the film. I wish we had even more of this.

However, this is a piece of entertainment, so Gray balances this with the actual bank robberies. As a bank robbery movie, this film is average. It doesn't offer anything we haven't seen dozens of times before and done much better. Yes, the social commentary aspect is unique, but everything else feels flat, a bit bland. We know exactly how the movie will play out and it follows that expected path dutifully. I found myself significantly less enthused by that part of the movie, which is... the main part.

The cast is good, but they were all fairly early in their careers. Jada Pinkett Smith is definitely a standout and emerges as the most sympathetic, main character. She gives a strong performance in the lead role. Queen Latifah is a bit of a scene stealer with her over-the-top performance, although I only thought she was average. I don't Latifah has ever been an especially strong actress, and here, her inexperience shows. She puts a lot into the role, so it can mostly be forgiven, but her performance never felt truly natural to me. She takes up a lot of space and attention, to only middling results. I thought Vivica A. Fox gave one of the strongest performances of the film, but oddly feels too sidelined as the movie progresses. The film really focuses on Pinkett Smith, which is fine, but I thought Fox deserved a bigger role and more screen time. She really gave a strong performance. Kimberly Elise felt like the obviously weakest link of these four. Her performance was fine, but not remarkable in the least.

The supporting cast is really strong. I enjoyed John C. McGinley's energetic performance. He takes a throwaway character and makes him much more complex and interesting than we might have expected. The same can be said for Blair Underwood, whose strong performance elevates an otherwise minor role. I do kind of appreciate how Gray flipped the script here- usually, it's the men in the primary roles and I'm complaining that the supporting actresses needed more screen time. McGinley and Underwood are good, but they are always on the margins- this movie absolutely (and deservedly) belongs to the women.

The film itself is fairly entertaining, but not consistently so. There's absolutely no reason for the movie to clock in over 2 hours long- it absolutely needed to be tightened up. There's definitely too many scenes that drag on. When the story itself is fairly predictable, it makes the whole thing feel longer- we know where it'll all end up.

Now, I didn't love Set It Off, but it's absolutely a decent film. Gray is a talented director and while his second film wasn't as strong as his first (or many of his others), it's still a worthwhile viewing experience. I appreciate that it highlighted the challenging living conditions of many people, especially black women. We do need more movies like this, just ones that are a bit better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Friday, The Negotiator, Light It Up